SKD & Wapping election candidate – Stephen O’Shea, Lib Dems

What’s your name?

What do you do for a living?

Patient Access Manager for a children’s rare disease company.

Where do you live?

Wapping High St.

What is your involvement with the SKD & Wapping community?

I have been closely involved with St Katharine’s & Wapping since 2015, when I first started canvassing here for the mayoral by-election. I loved Wapping so much that I moved here and have worked since then to keep the area’s beautiful spirit going.
As well as being the most persistently annoying door-knocker in the ward, I also work from home so spend many happy afternoons in the Turks Head and Wapping Rose Gardens, and evenings in the Town of Ramsgate.

Why should we vote for you? What difference will you make to SKD & Wapping?

A vote for us is a vote for change. We’re all embarrassed by the scandal-ridden Councils of Lutfur and Biggs, and the Tories are powerless to change it. We want to bring in a new broom to Tower Hamlets politics and bring a real opposition.

For St Kats & Wapping, I have been working tirelessly over the past couple of years to set up community groups and restart the Police ward panel, to address the blight of anti-social behaviour. I’m going to build on this as a Councillor, to reverse some of the decisions that have contributed to the ASB increase, and bring a joined-up approach to addressing crime & ASB.

Our Six to Fix leaflet has the other issues we want to fix (Homes, Brexit, recycling, Community & Green Spaces). But first of all I’m going to get cracking on fixing this awful broadband in Wapping!!

Tower Hamlets has some of the worst child poverty in Europe. How would you and your party tackle it?

Child poverty is a huge and complex issue, and it’s a scandal that Tower Hamlets has been so particularly hit by it. First and foremost, poor housing policy drives poverty: we need to get truly affordable housing to help the most at-need, not just the £595,000 apartments that Labour has waved through.

Secondly, we need to support children and their families both financially and emotionally. Recent decisions to cut children’s services, youth sports women’s refuges and children’s centres are appalling, and create a vicious cycle of hardship and non-support which contributed to the damning Ofsted report about Tower Hamlets Children’s Services. I will work to reverse these cuts, and push for a budget and policy that supports families, not punishes them.

What’s the best thing about SKD & Wapping?

Tough question! There are so many: the view of Tower Bridge from St Katharines, the cobbled streets and bridges (even as a cyclist I love the cobbles), the breakfast burrito at Turks Head? Above all this, it’s the amazing community spirit in Wapping, that has welcomed me over the last few years, and who have worked so hard on local initiatives for policing, community centres and so many other wonderful things. There’s no better place in London (and hence in the world).

Brexit: How did you vote?

Remain

Squirrel preferences: which are best?

Red squirrels

Favourite musical and why?

My head says Wizard of Oz (as a good Liberal I always follow the yellow brick road) but my heart says Sound of Music.

Favourite childhood toy?

He-Man and Skeletor castles!

What superpower would you like to have?

Flying, of course. It’s the only way to get about during the Wapping Lock-Ins.